How not to waste the opportunity of the Sustainable Development Goals
In 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders in 2015 at an historic UN Summit, officially came into force. I was amazed & surprised how fast companies adopted it - in a period where they were already sinking under reporting guidelines (Global reporting Initiative, SASB, Integrated reporting..), new laws (European non-financial directive...) and ratings (DSJI, Gresb, EcoVadis,...). SDGs are a true grown breaking initiative. Four in ten (39 percent) companies that report on the SDGs include the global goals in their CEO and or Chair's message, according to a recent KPMG study. 62% of companies analysed felt that the SDGs were important enough to mention in their reporting, according to a PWC study.
Goals of SDGs are complex: end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. There are no less than 169 targets. No wonder that in the rush to publish their SDGs report before everyone else, a lot of companies fell into the trap of alignment. Aligning with the SDGs shouldn't be the ultimate end. What's the point in choosing a goal to then publish a story explaining how well you already meet that goal?
Indeed, 79% of companies that prioritised the goals chose SDG13 (Climate Action) according to a recent excellent PWC study. Lots of companies already have targets regarding their carbon emissions. It is not a coincidence.
SDGs should be an opportunity to change your business model & to frame a story which is relevant to the organization. Not about spending hours to put the right pink icon of the SDG on the right page of your report. It should be about wondering if Life on Land (SDG15), Zero Hunger (SDG2) and Life Below Water (SDG14), the less reported goals according to KPMG, are really "Not material" and "Disconnected with our business". It should be about translating these targets into business language, without twisting its meaning by choosing an indicator you already are reporting on. It should be about wondering how these indicators can really show progress, in a way that is effective and efficient. It should be about setting out the commercial implication & making changes.
Things you don't have time to do when you publish a CSR report and you have 45 deadlines with the communication agency, auditors and all the contributors. Things you sometimes don't even have the time to do after you published your CSR, because you now have to focus on CSR ratings or something even more time consuming. Things you might not even want to do, because you've just spent 1 year on defining your most important CSR issues or you just published your materiality matrix and you don't want to do it all ever again, understandably.
I know. It is difficult. Almost mission impossible.
That's why I'd like to share this great material, a free SDG industry specific benchmark, which I have just discovered, published by KPMG and United Nations Global Compact. In this selection of industry-specific examples and ideas for corporate action related to the SDGs, in 1 click, you can find pertinent business case of SDGs related to your industry in chapter 3 of each report. And even if most of these companies probably just aligned to the goals and not sorted them out to fill the SDG target, everyone running out of time can use it to propose new actions plans & innovate to its clients or to its company.
Discover this free benchmark : Financial services // Food, Beverage & Consumer Goods // Healthcare & Life sciences // Industrial Manufacturing // Transportation // Energy, Natural Resources, Chemicals
In conclusion, SDGs are not here to multiply the number of CSR reports pages or to color with icons the index table – even if they should be mentioned in a proper & well designed manner in corporate communication with CSR specialists.
SDGs are here to help to put in place action plan which are not necessarily aligned with the way business is already done - and that’s why SDGs compliance is everything but alignment according to me. SDGs should be about innovation & creativity. Nothing else.
KPMG and United Nations Global Compact SDG Industry Matrix
"SDG Reporting Challenge 2017 Exploring business communication on the global goals", a study of PWC
How to report on the SDGs : What good looks like and why it matters, a study of KPMG, published in 2018